little feet and wheelchair footrests …

Becoming a mom is the second best thing that’s happened in my life … becoming a grandmother has to rank top of the pops! All the joy of welcoming a bright little life into this world without the discomfort of growing a life in your belly, no pain of delivery and free of the sleepless nights worrying about the future. Just the bliss of cradling a tiny being in your welcoming arms and smelling that distinctive newborn baby fragrance that makes you willing to fight like a tiger should anything threaten to harm this little bundle. Pure joy. And I am fortunate enough to be a Gogo three-times over.

Having your daughter become a mom is a crazy thing – especially when you still feel like a thirty-year-old in spirit (even though your body feels sooo much older)! Seeing Erin grow into this powerful mom has been interesting and the hardest lesson I have tried to learn is not to offer unsolicited advice. I regularly fail in this mission. The other thing I have found fascinating is how Erin’s baby boys have naturally fallen into practical ways of interacting with Chaeli and her cool wheels. Round the age of one (when they started to walk) each of the boys has come to the realisation that if he wants to chat with Aunty Chaeli, he has to climb onto her wheelchair footrest, hold onto her table and face her for an eyeball-to-eyeball chit-chat. Adorable!

And as they grow older the communication grows to include train rides, either on the footrest or standing on the back of the wheelchair, feet firmly planted on the batteries! It’s all about effective communication and not allowing barriers of any kind negatively to affect what needs to be conveyed. The train’s about to leave the station … all aboard!

And now bambino number three is one and learning to climb Chaeli’s footrest: how is this train going to cope with three passengers aged 1, 3 and 5?

It’s going to be a fascinating ride!